Advances in Social Science and Culture ISSN 2640-9682 (Print) ISSN 2640-9674 (Online) Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc 57 Original Paper Expanding Protection and Value Promotion of Cultural Routes to Promote Rural Revitalization—A Case Study of Ya’ an Section of the Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea-Horse Road Tao Liu 1* & Pengyun Song 1&2 1 Institute of National Productivity Development, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China 2 College of Electrical Engineering, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China * Tao Liu, Institute of National Productivity Development, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China Received: December 12, 2022 Accepted: January 24, 2023 Online Published: February 7, 2023 doi:10.22158/assc.v5n1p57 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/assc.v5n1p57 Abstract Cultural route heritage represents the interaction and communication for human civilization. It is also the historical heritage of the linear track that shows the interregional and intercultural continuous dialogues of human diversity and civilization. The Ancient Tea-Horse Road is an important cultural, economic and religious exchange link between the various ethnic groups in the Han and Tibetan two places. As the starting point of the line, Ya 'an section plays an extremely important role in history. Based on the increasingly perfect theoretical interpretation of cultural routes, the characteristics of cultural routes contained in Ya 'an section are deeply analyzed. This paper explores the cultural value of the Ya’an section of the Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Ancient Road with the idea of cultural integrity along the line, and integrate the cultural elements along the line. It clearly puts forward the strategic measures for the protection of the cultural heritage of the Tea-Horse Ancient Road, deeply excavates the multiple values of the cultural industry along the line, promotes the coordinated development of the line, and empowers the rural revitalization along the line. Keywords cultural route, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, rural revitalization, cultural industry 1. Introduction Cultural route is a new theory about the protection and research of world cultural heritage since the establishment of the Scientific Committee of Cultural Routes in the late 1990 s, and the formation of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 58 Published by SCHOLINK INC. the “2008 Charter of Cultural Routes”, at this time the cultural routes have a relatively complete theoretical system. At present, the research on cultural routes in China is mostly reflected in conceptual analysis and value evaluation of specific routes. The Research from different perspectives is relatively isolated and lacks effective links with emerging technologies and theories. The Ancient Tea-Horse Road is an ancient commercial road located in the southwest frontier of ancient China with the main content of tea-horse trade. Until the middle of the twentieth century, it was still an important way for China to exchange culture and materials with neighboring countries. The Ancient Tea-Horse Road is an ancient commercial road located in the southwest frontier of ancient China with the main content of tea-horse trade. Until the middle of the twentieth century, it was still an important way for China to exchange culture and materials with neighboring countries. As the starting section of the Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road, the Ya’an section has unique geographical and historical factors and “Beifu” culture. It has a decisive position in the entire Tea Horse Road. From the perspective of expanding protection and value promotion of cultural routes to promote rural revitalization, this paper takes Ya’an section of Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road as an example to analyze its cultural route characteristics, and puts forward the overall protection strategy of historical and cultural heritage in Ya’an section to expand the practical route of rural revitalization strategy. It provides a reference for the research, protection and development of similar cross-regional linear cultural heritage resources and the further promoting efficient and sustainable development of villages along the line. 2. Overview of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road 2.1 Concept Definition of the Ancient Tea-Horse Ancient Road “The Ancient Tea-Horse Road” originated from the ancient “Tea-Horse Trade”. It is produced under the induction of the demand of “Fanren like tea, Han nationality need horses”. During the Tang Dynasty, because the eastward spread of Tibetan forces became an external hidden danger, the Tang Dynasty implemented a policy of mollification to Tibet. At this time in the trade with Tibet is more cautious, the “Tea-Horse Trade” is mainly with the northwest minority areas for exchange, exchange with the southwest Tibetan has not yet appeared. In the Song Dynasty, the Central Plains region was often harassed by ethnic minority regimes. Frequent wars and large demand for war horses drove the development of tea-horse trade. This period “Tea-horse trade” unprecedented development, the relevant system at this time to establish and improve. After that, the Mongolians went south to establish the Yuan Dynasty. Because Mongolia is known for its iron hoofs, there is no excessive demand for horses in Tibetan areas, and the willingness to carry out tea-horse trade is not strong. The Ming Dynasty followed the tea-horse trade system of the Song Dynasty and added trade places. And set the tea-horse department as the only organ for tea horse exchange. By the Qing Dynasty, the tea-horse trade declined, this period mainly tea in exchange for local specialties and livestock products. And because Indian tea entered the Tibetan area, the southwest tea market was impacted. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 59 Published by SCHOLINK INC. In different periods, the perfect management organs and systems were established. Its function was mainly to block the channels of private tea trafficking to increase the income of the imperial court. At the same time, it also eliminates the hidden dangers of military supplies caused by the shortage of war horses produced in the Central Plains. However, due to the strict control, the space of tea-horse trade was compressed, which could not meet the folk needs of Tibetan and Han. In this case, a number of desperate private tea traders and private tea roads different from official roads were born. For example, the Qing Dynasty in the southwest region to build a “three longitudinal and one widthwise roads” main traffic artery. This includes the three official roads of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guilin, and the Yangtze River official waterway. The private tea trade roads that link arteries like a capillary network, they consist of a large number of southwest ancient road and expanding to the surrounding. The historical periods mentioned above have not formed an accurate concept of “the Ancient Tea-Horse Road”. But its local ancient roads have become an important economic, cultural, religious and other aspects of communication between the various regions of the link. Due to differences in historical dynasties and geographical locations, before the concept of “the Ancient Tea-Horse Road” was put forward, there were many local ancient road names such as “Xuanniu Road, Wuchi Road, Jinsang mileng Road, Yongchang Road, Zang Yi Corridor, Tangfan ancient road, Longshu Road” etc, and the Tibetan-Yi Corridor often used by ethnologists. The term “Ancient Tea Horse Road” was coined by scholars such as Mu Jihong and Xu Yongtao in 1980. They combined the landscape along the road with Tibetan tea-loving customs to consider, and gradually refined the concept of “the Ancient Tea Horse Road”. In 1992, Mu Jihong et al., made a preliminary definition of the connotation of “Ancient Tea Horse Road” in their book “Explore the Culture of the Big Triangle Area of Yunnan, Tibet and Sichuan”. In the Tang Dynasty, the ancient tea-horse road formed a network with the triangle of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet as the core, the west out of India and Nepal, east to the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, and southeast to Guilin. Since the concept of “Ancient Tea Horse Road” was put forward, it gives a unified name to the numerous and complicated line networks among Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, South Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions and countries. It triggered a huge response and led to a series of related research and discussion. Deeply explore the concept of “the Ancient Tea-Horse Road” and clarify the theoretical and practical context behind its evolution. It has important practical significance for further expanding connotation and enhancing value. After more than 30 years of development and extension. The existing research on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road focuses on archaeology, history, geography, sociology, cultural heritage and other disciplines. Based on their own professional background, scholars have different interpretations of the region, specific lines, trade content and scope of influence involved in the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. The academic community has reached a consensus on the Sichuan-Tibet line and the Yunnan-Tibet line, but the third line of the “Tea-Horse Ancient Road” is still controversial. Authors believe that “the Ancient Tea-Horse Road” as a vast and expanding transportation network centered on Sichuan, Yunnan www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 60 Published by SCHOLINK INC. and Tibet, does not refer to just one or several clear lines. Therefore, the understanding of its connotation should start from the broad and narrow sense. In a broad sense, the “Tea-horse Ancient Road” refers to the economic and cultural exchange routes formed by the horse gang as the transportation carrier between the southwest region and its neighboring countries. All transportation by manpower and horses, whether it is engaged in tea or other commodity exchanges, can be called the “Ancient Tea Horse Road”. In a narrow sense, the “Tea Horse Ancient Road” refers to the ancient road of transportation and commerce connecting Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet with the horse gang as the main means of transportation. It is a corridor of economic and cultural exchanges between ethnic groups in southwest China. In Ya ' an territory specifically refers to the official tea and private tea two ancient roads. 2.2 The Main Value of Ya’ an Section Ya ' an has a long history and splendid culture. As early as 1995, it has been approved as a provincial-level historical and cultural city in Sichuan. The geographical features of the transition from Sichuan Basin to Qinghai-Tibet Plateau determine the diverse natural ecological environment of Ya’ an, the Dadu River and the Qingyi River catchment nurtured early human civilization. The special geographical location makes Ya’ an become the intersection of Han, Tibetan, Yi, Qiang and other ethnic minorities. And Ya’ an has historically been called “ethnic corridor” and “Tibetan gateway”. Ya 'an section as a key section of the Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea-Horse Road, as well as important transportation, trade, management and cultural hub. Ya ' an city is the location of ancient tea-horse trade management agencies, and a large number of tea-horse trade-related caravans distribution center. Sturdy and sophisticated transport facilities to be used here, the bustling towns and villages came into being. This section has a special geographical location, a long history and profound cultural deposits. Ya’ an section is the starting point of the Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road. As the starting part of the Sichuan-Tibet Line of the Ancient Tea Horse Road, this section is a local passage connect Qionglai to Chengdu to the east, west to Luding and Kangding Tibetan area. The total length of this section is about 400 kilometers. Although its east-west span is not large, the terrain fluctuates significantly in a short distance, and the altitude gap is very large, which rises from several hundred meters to more than five thousand meters. It is the most dangerous, the most mysterious and the most desolate section of the Sichuan Tibetan Tea Horse Road. Ya 'an section can usually be divided into official road, which from Ya 'an through Yingjing, crossing Daxiangling to Hanyuan, through Luding to Dajianlu (Kangding). And another private tea road, from Ya’ an to Tianquan, over Erlang Mountain, through Luding to Kangding. Because this line is mostly mountain path, so named. There are many resting place and inns along the official road, and it is relatively convenient for business travelers and horse caravan. However, along the private tea road are canyons, deep gullies and cliffs. Ya 'an section is an important production base and trading hub of south-road brick tea. This section is an important tea producing area on the Tea Horse Road and the origin area of tea culture. In the Western Han Dynasty, since Wu Lizhen planted tea in Mengding Mountain, Ya’an has been the earliest www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 61 Published by SCHOLINK INC. area of artificial domestication of wild tea trees in the world. From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Ya’an Mengshan tea has always been used as royal tribute tea. With the implementation of the tea-horse trade policy, Ya’an has also become an important base designated by the government to produce tea for Tibetan areas. According to research statistics, Sichuan produced 15 million kilograms of tea annually in the Song Dynasty, half of them were transported into the Tibetan area via the Ancient Tea Horse Road.In the Ming Dynasty, 30,000 tea trade certification of Sichuan tea were traded through Liya and Diaomen (Tianquan) ports (Tea trade certification: since the Song Dynasty, the government issued certificates for tea merchants to sell tea, each certificate represents 50 kilograms), accounting for more than 80 % of the tea trade certification in Sichuan. Ya 'an section brings together rich and precious natural resources and heritage resources. The forest coverage rate in Ya 'an is 50.79 %, with superior natural resources and good ecosystem. The Ya 'an section of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road passes through eight scenic spots, one natural habitat, one wetland reserve, one national geopark, three forest parks, and a large number of green space systems such as tea gardens and farmland. After thousands of years of accumulation, this section has formed a rich and complex road system, with rich heritage content along the route. It covers many aspects of historical villages and towns, sites, stone tombs, ancient building communities, etc., and single heritage also has high comprehensive value. There are 17 ancient architectural sites, 6 ancient city sites, 6 ancient sites, many grottoes and stone carvings, bridge piers and other heritages. Under the characteristics of rich but steep natural environment, a unique group of ' Tianlu Beifu ' was formed. The rapid changes in altitude within a short distance have caused roads to be mostly rugged mountain roads, making it difficult for livestock to be carried effectively in a vicious road environment. Moreover, the strict control of “official road” and the limitation of carrying capacity make the trade between residents along the route not fully satisfied. At this time, the “Bei Fu” appeared as a group shouldering the heavy responsibility of transportation, relying on human transportation to greatly expand the cargo transportation capacity of the Ya 'an section. Thousands of tons of goods are transported between Tibet and Han by manpower. Nowadays, the profession of “Bei Fu” has long disappeared on the ancient road, but it has become a unique cultural symbol. Ya ' an section is an important platform for cultural exchanges between Han and Tibetan. The formation and development process of Ya 'an section is a historical process of gradual aggregation of Han, Tibetan and other ethnic groups in Southwest China. It records the economic and cultural exchanges and contacts between ethnic within a specific time and space. It is not only an important channel for the exchange and integration of the two civilizations of Han and Tibetan in history, but also an important link to promote communication between ethnic groups, and makes them emotionally and psychologically close to each other. It has led to the exchange of cultures, nationalities, ideas and concepts along the road, and highlighted the significant value of the section in cultural and social aspects. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 62 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 3. Linkage Mechanism of Cultural Routes and Rural Revitalizatio General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that agriculture, rural areas and farmers are fundamental issues related to the national economy and people’s livelihood, solve the “three rural” issue has always been the top priority of the work of the Communist Party of China. The implementation of the rural revitalization strategy is an overall and historical task related to the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. After the CPC led the people of all ethnic groups to win the battle against poverty in 2020. Due to the special geographical environment and historical and cultural factors, although the villages in some ethnic areas of China have been completely out of poverty, but the economic development level is still relatively backward. In the next stage of development, how to choose and develop characteristic industries suitable for the local environment to promote rural revitalization is a major choice for such areas. The full implementation of the rural revitalization strategy has become the central task of “three rural” work and one of the key tasks of economic and social development during the “14th Five-Year” period. Under the theoretical support of rural revitalization strategy and cultural route. Relying on non-material elements such as cultural mobility, population migration and ethnic customs along the cultural routes with their own characteristics, as well as material elements such as historical and cultural relics, cultural relics and characteristic products. Through the full protection development and value expansion of cultural routes to help the further development of rural areas along the line. 3.1 Concept of Cultural Route First, cultural routes as an emerging type of heritage. The idea was first proposed in a report of the European Council in 1964. With the official launch of the “European Cultural Routes Project” in 1987, as a form of heritage, cultural routes come into people’s vision because of its concept of “communication and dialogue”. Subsequently, the International Council on Monuments and Sites conducted a systematic study of cultural routes and proposed that cultural routes are the inheritance and development of heritage routes. It emphasizes the phenomenon of “cultural integration” caused by “continuous communication” between different regions and different ethnic groups, which has obvious dynamic characteristics. The idea of cultural route appeared early, but the project was officially launched after more than ten years, and the detailed theory was gradually improved in 2008. For more than a decade, the study of cultural routes in China is still in a relatively primary stage. Although the concept was introduced late, but the research on route definition, exploration and site protection in specific cultural routes such as the Silk Road and Shu Road has received research attention in the fields of history and archaeology as early as the 1970 s and 1980s. In 2004, Li Wei et al. first introduced the cultural route in the sense of heritage when discussing the overall protection of the Grand Canal. In China’s heritage academia, related research mainly focuses on the theoretical review and interpretation of cultural routes, heritage protection planning, value characteristics analysis and tourism development. Secondly, through in-depth analysis of the concept, we can have a more profound and comprehensive understanding of the connotation of cultural routes. The connotation of cultural routes is as follows: 1. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 63 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Its essence is the collection of material heritage and non-material heritage. It is the route of human communication and migration related to a certain time and space, including everything that constitutes the route. The material elements such as transportation lines, towns, villages, post stations, docks, ancient sites, and important modern historical sites along the route determine and witness the existence of the communication line itself. Culture, customs, traditional skills and other non-material elements give the cultural route the overall cultural significance, reflecting the cultural flow on the line 2. The value composition of the cultural route is pluralistic and multi-level. It not only has the cultural value as a whole, but also has the ecological value of the natural ecosystem that carries the route. The numerous cultural nodes scattered in the linear space show dense series and aggregation. They jointly create a holistic cultural ecological environment and jointly lay the cultural attributes of cultural routes in essence. And the cultural route emphasizes its overall interculturality, and its overall value is greater than the sum of the values of each component. The overall value of cultural routes reflects the exchanges and dialogues between different countries and regions, reflects its multi-level functional extension and expansion, and fully demonstrates the process of human civilization.3. The cultural route emphasizes the communication and mutual influence between cultures brought by the route, which has typical dynamic characteristics. The mutual exchanges and exchanges between the cultural communities along the route are multi-dimensional and dynamic, reflecting the time-space collision and integration of multiculturalism in human history, and witnessing the continuous cultural communication and leap between different regions and different ethnic groups. Its dynamic and historical context has generated or continues to generate relevant cultural elements. 3.2 Linkage Mechanism and Significance of Cultural Routes to Promote Rural Revitalization Rural revitalization is a comprehensive strategy involving multiple objectives such as industrial revitalization, cultural revitalization, ecological revitalization and organizational revitalization. At present, in the process of exploring the road of economic development, some small towns and villages have exposed problems such as homogenization, the effect of pro-poor is general, and the inability of characteristic cultural industries to effectively connect with rural revitalization. It also faces the constraints of weak links such as industrial weakness, talent weakness and cultural weakness. Under the idea of cultural line as a whole, it is necessary to explore the effective connection mechanism between cultural industry development and rural revitalization. Rural revitalization needs the economic assistance of cultural industry. General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that rural revitalization is a comprehensive revitalization including industrial revitalization, talent revitalization, cultural revitalization, ecological revitalization and organizational revitalization. From a strategic and overall perspective, he proposed that rural revitalization should be planned as a whole and promoted scientifically. The section along the Ya 'an section of the Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea-Horse Road is an ecologically fragile area, and there is no comparative advantage in developing industry and agriculture that are highly dependent on resources and environment. At this time, by looking for new industries with comparative advantages for industrial www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 64 Published by SCHOLINK INC. transformation, we can effectively avoid falling into the “environment-poverty trap” of economic development. China’s ethnic areas often have rich ethnic cultural resources. Through the empowerment of the cultural industry, will promote the transformation of characteristic and advantageous resources into capital and enhance the cultural added value of industries along the route. The effective use of cultural resources can give full play to the comparative advantages of local resource endowments, thereby increasing the self-hematopoietic function of rural industries. Cultural industry is the key to rural revitalization. The “Rural Revitalization Strategic Plan (2018-2022)” clearly proposes the development of rural characteristic cultural industries, build a number of distinctive features, outstanding advantages of agricultural culture display area, and create a number of characteristic cultural industry towns, cultural industry villages and cultural industry groups. Cultural industry has multiple attributes such as cultural attribute, economic attribute and ideological attribute. The government should give full play to the comparative advantages of the characteristic cultural industries along the cultural routes, promote the development of industrial integration, enhance the competitiveness of rural industries, ensure the steady and long-term increase of farmers’ income, and alleviate the blind flow of urban and rural population to a certain extent. The high-quality development of cultural industry is a digital, mixed and intensive development mode. It requires rural areas to fully tap and give full play to the potential of factor endowments and resources, and provide internal momentum for the overall revitalization of rural areas. Cultural industry development and construction of ecological livable environment. General Secretary Xi JinPing emphasized that “to build a new socialist countryside, we must plan first, follow the law of rural development, make up for the shortcomings of rural areas, enhance the strengths of rural areas, pay attention to local flavor, retain rural style, and retain pastoral nostalgia”. 'How to correctly handle the relationship between ecological environment and economic and social development is an important part of promoting rural revitalization. China’s socialist rural revitalization is a green and sustainable development path, which requires economic growth while maintaining “green water and green mountains” and realizing rural ecological revitalization. The cultural industry has the characteristics of non-materiality of factor input and non-pollution of product consumption that the material product industry does not have. It is an industry integrating sustainable development, environmental protection and economic development. It greatly eases the contradiction between production and green sustainable development, and belongs to a typical environment-friendly industry, especially suitable for the development of ethnic areas with limited resources and fragile ecology. As a new concept that emphasizes the overall significance of culture, cultural routes pay more attention to the communication and interaction between various cultural communities brought by the routes. Under the guidance of the cultural route theory, the cultural elements along the route are integrated with an integrated idea to form an integrated cultural industry cluster along the route, promote the coordinated development of the route, and empower the rural revitalization along the route. The ancient www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 65 Published by SCHOLINK INC. tea-horse road is not only a land transportation line promoted by material exchanges between different ethnic groups and regions, but also has the cultural characteristics of ethnic cultural exchange and ethnic integration. The rich historical and cultural elements created and retained by the people of all ethnic groups give the overall value effect of the Tea Horse Road. After winning the battle against poverty in 2020, the full implementation of the rural revitalization strategy has become the central task of China’s “three rural” work and one of the key tasks of economic and social development in the “14th Five-Year” period. Among them, based on the characteristics of local resource endowment, each region develops characteristic industries with comparative advantages according to local conditions, which is regarded as an important work content and new economic growth point to realize rural revitalization in China. Rural revitalization is not only the development of economy, its ultimate goal is the comprehensive modernization of agriculture and rural areas, so it is a comprehensive strategy involving multiple goals such as economy, culture, ecology, talents and organization. The No.1 Central Document of 2022’ Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Doing a Good Job in Promoting the Key Work of Rural Revitalization in 2022’ is put forward “Starting the implementation of the cultural industry to enable rural revitalization plan”. On March 21, 2022, six departments jointly issued “Opinions on Promoting Cultural Industry to Empower Rural Revitalization”. It is clearly proposed that the cultural industry should be used to empower rural revitalization, stimulate the vitality of excellent traditional local culture, promote the integration and development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and help realize the overall revitalization of rural areas. As an important part of rural revitalization, cultural revitalization is also the internal driving force of rural revitalization. Dig deep into the multi-value of the characteristic culture of the ancient Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Road-Ya 'an section, and give full play to the leading role of local characteristic culture in rural revitalization under the background of emphasizing the overall culture along the line. Efficient and sustainable transformation of the value of cultural routes to promote the development of cultural industries, and realize the protection and value promotion of cultural routes. Guided by the development of cultural industries along the route, it is of great significance to comprehensively promote rural revitalization. From the perspective of cultural routes, the overall cultural industry along the route can promote the rural revitalization along the route in multiple dimensions due to its unique nature in resource endowment, economic value, theoretical value and ecological environment construction. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 66 Published by SCHOLINK INC. 4. The Practical Path of Expanding Protection and Value Promotion of Cultural Routes to Help Rural Revitalization As a new concept and method in the international heritage protection community, the cultural route specifically proposes strategic measures for the overall protection and specific protection of cross-regional and comprehensive linear heritage resources. The Ya 'an section of the ancient tea-horse road is not only an ancient business road with a long history, but also a link of commercial exchanges, cultural exchanges, emotional exchanges and spiritual identity among all ethnic groups in the southwest border of China. The cultural route is used as the overall concept to expand and protect the Ya 'an section of the Sichuan-Tibet Tea-Horse Ancient Road and enhance its value. It has the very important meaning to realize the all-round, all-field and whole-process high-quality development of rural areas. 1) Establish the heritage system of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road cultural route, and take the cultural whole as the object of expansion and protection. At present, the slogan of protective development is overwhelming, but the actual situation is increasingly serious. On this background, the quality of cultural protection along the line is generally not high, and the single protection mode has caused serious homogenization problems. It has been unable to meet the requirements of the continuous enrichment of the overall cultural connotation, and the protection benefits are mostly short-term and unsustainable. Under the guidance of the overall concept of “Sichuan-Tibet Tea-Horse Ancient Road Cultural Route”, the government should combine points, lines and surfaces to build an expanded protection network complemented by different cultural resources. In order to realize the comprehensive expansion effect of regional coordinated cultural protection. In the process of cultural industry development, the theory and method of cultural route are used to promote the cross-regional cooperative protection of cultural resources along the ancient road, so as to build and maintain the overall cultural space protection network in the ancient road area. 2) The government establishes a coordinated and coordinated management system and talent training system. Through the effective protection of the historical and cultural heritage resources of the cultural routes in the Ya 'an section, the ethnic traditional culture and historical memory are inherited. Relevant departments should make full use of the various functions of the ancient road, such as trade exchanges, ecological environment protection, historical and cultural education and leisure tourism and carry out cooperation and development in many aspects along the route and give full play to resource advantages. Through the establishment of the ancient tea horse road cultural route system as an opportunity, scientific and rational development and utilization to achieve multi-win. In order to achieve the overall protection goal, it is necessary to establish a cultural heritage information database to resources information sharing and dynamic management monitoring. Based on the data network platform of dynamic management for data and technology sharing, and establishing a long-term cooperation mechanism for communication and sharing among relevant institutions and departments of management, research and utilization. The relevant departments, enterprises and individuals of heritage protection and utilization should reach a consensus on the definition, connotation and value of the www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 67 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Ancient Tea-Horse Road Cultural Route. Talent guarantee is the core driving force to promote the development of rural cultural industry and an important guarantee to promote the high-quality development of rural revitalization. The government should give full play to the macro-control function, improve the talent support policy and long-term mechanism, enhance the attraction of talents in the region, gather talents in various regions, solve the problem of insufficient talents in the region, and promote the economic development of the region. To enhance the attraction of enterprises to talents, especially in terms of salary, working environment and corporate culture, and should also actively seek to carry out cooperation with the government and universities, promote industry-university-research cooperation, and introduce the required talents. The local government should pay attention to the coordination role of social organizations, which has a wider range of influence and a larger number of participants. It also has the functions of supervising the government, conveying public opinion, providing information and so on. 3) Deeply digging into the multiple values of cultural industries along the line. The protection of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road is the foundation. How to excavate and utilize the tea-horse culture in a deeper level, and ultimately promote the development of the production and living ecology along the region and the revival of Chinese traditional culture, need more attention. The regions along the route should rely on cultural superior resources, tap the multiple values of cultural resources, empower traditional industries with cultural creativity, and cultivate characteristic cultural industry formats. Relevant regions should extend the industrial chain, reshape the value chain, and promote the synchronous, integrated and coordinated development of agriculture, handicraft industry, culture, tourism, ecology, education, commerce and health care. Vigorously develop cultural creative design, with creativity as the core, through creative development to market value transformation, to provide a new development dimension for traditional industrial production. Fully tap the characteristic cultural resources along the line, empower the development of rural characteristic agriculture and characteristic handicraft industry along the line, and inherit and develop intangible cultural heritage. 4) The combination of cultural tourism circle and characteristic industrial chain. The cultural tourism circle refers to a certain geographical scope or an uncertain regional scope that is attractive to tourists. Affected by a common cultural atmosphere, the local social life, customs, behavior patterns, architectural styles, etc. are identical or similar. Cultural tourism circle is an abstract collection of tourist destinations that provide tourists with the functions of cultural visit, exploration, learning and experience. Through the concise value of Ya ' an section, it can be concluded that the cultural industry composed of three cultural elements of “tea”, “horse” and “road” is the most distinctive industrial chain along the line. (1) In the overall scope of the cultural tourism circle, with “tea” as the center to establish a “tea” cultural park integrating planting, production, production and sales. (2) With the tea-horse trade market as the core area, a multi-ethnic and multi-regional economic exchange platform along the route should be established. While promoting the trade interaction of a large number of characteristic products, it strengthens the gathering of people along the line and the exchange and integration of www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 68 Published by SCHOLINK INC. culture. (3) With the traffic function of “road”, it combines with the characteristic folk culture and village culture along the line and deeply excavates the cultural value. Establish a number of cultural experience tourism routes and outdoor sports routes such as hiking fitness trails, vigorously build a characteristic cultural tourism circle, and help the rural revitalization along the line. 5. Conclusion Based on the theory of cultural route, it provides a new perspective for the comprehensive research, expansion protection and value promotion of the Ya ' an section of the Sichuan-Tibet Ancient Tea-Horse Road. As a cultural whole, it is not only a witness to the development of ancient civilization in China, but also an important implementation path of modern ethnic unity and good-neighborly friendship in China, which has important historical and practical significance. To cope with the new requirements of all-round, all-field and whole-process high-quality development of rural areas. On the basis of stabilizing the basic agricultural plate, taking into account the ecology, giving full play to the comparative advantages of rural resources, steadily promoting the upgrading of rural industrial structure, realizing the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and promoting the overall revitalization of rural areas are the top priorities of the current “three rural” work. From the perspective of cultural routes, this paper discusses the concept of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, the main value of Ya 'an section and the internal relationship between cultural routes and rural revitalization. And put forward the use of the concept of holistic culture to maximize its protection and development, improve and optimize the cultural industry chain along the line, establish and improve the management system and mechanism of regional cooperation, and strengthen the introduction and training of talents. The local government should stimulate the “independent hematopoiesis” function of villages along the line with cultural industries, cultivate characteristic cultural industry formats, and promote the synchronous, integrated and coordinated development of multiple industries, and solid and orderly promote rural development and rural construction, cohere strength, forge a strong spirit, and help revitalize. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/assc Advances in Social Science and Culture Vol. 5, No. 1, 2023 69 Published by SCHOLINK INC. Funding This research was funded by Southwest Minzu University, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Social Sciences): Study on the Historical Facts of Beifu on the Heavenly Road, Exchanges and Interactions among Different Ethnic Groups (No. HXZ202202). Reference Dai, X. Y., Li, W., & Liu, J. M. (2016). A Study on Status, Features and Development Strategies of Chinese Cultural Routes. Chinese Landscape Architecture, 32(09), 77-81. 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